Stadium Housing Association's services are mainly 'a balance of strengths and weaknesses' according to a report released today by the independent Audit Commission.
Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of the North London-based housing association which manages homes across 34 local authority areas including 25 London boroughs. Inspectors examined how well Stadium repairs homes, carries out annual gas safety checks and manages rent arrears.
The report shows that most repairs are done on time and residents have a say in how the service is provided. Stadium is also working hard to tackle rent arrears and tries to avoid evicting residents from their homes. However, compared to other landlords, customers are much less satisfied with Stadium's services and too many homes have not had an annual gas safety check.
Ann Bennett, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:
'Overall, the quality of services we looked at was mixed. Stadium is working hard to provide good services to its customers although this is not reflected in customer satisfaction levels which are very low compared to other landlords. However, the association understands which areas need to improve and is now preparing an improvement plan to address the weaknesses we found'.
Strengths include:
- staff who are keen to provide a good service to customers with most telephone calls answered quickly;
- residents are influencing the way the repairs service is provided; and
- an annual visit to check if repairs are needed is a helpful service which residents are very happy with.
Weaknesses include:
- not enough customer calls are dealt with at the first point of contact;
- too many homes have not had an annual gas safety check; and
- Stadium is not doing enough to check that it is providing services fairly and equally to all its customers.
To help Stadium improve its services inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:
- making sure that all homes with a gas supply have an annual safety check;
- carrying out checks to make sure that all customers are treated fairly and equally; and
- understanding why customers are unhappy with the repairs service and taking action to improve it.
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the affordable housing regulator in England and works with the Audit Commission on the inspection of housing associations. The TSA commissions the Audit Commission to carry out inspections and the results are used by the TSA in its overall assessment of housing association performance.
Notes to editors
Stadium Housing Association is part of the Network Housing Group. It owns and manages over 8,500 homes, 4,312 of which are classed as being for general needs. Stadium also offers low cost home ownership, housing with support and temporary housing. Its homes are spread over 34 local authority areas including 25 London boroughs. Homes in London are mainly located in the boroughs of Brent, Barnet, Harrow and the City of Westminster. Stadium HA employs 165 staff and has an annual budget of £3.5 million for responsive repairs.
The Audit Commission introduced short-notice inspections for housing associations to give inspectors a clearer and more realistic view of the services that tenants receive.
Associations are given just five days notice of the inspection before their services are rated on a four point scale - from 'strengths significantly outweigh weaknesses' down to 'weaknesses outweigh strengths'.
Within two months of the publication of this report, Stadium Housing Association will provide the Audit Commission with a plan showing how it will implement the report's recommendations. The Commission will then assess and publish Stadium's prospects for improvement.
The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, auditing the £200 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.
As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for local people.
For further information please contact Chloe Morales Oyarce, Regional Communications Manager (London Region) on 0844 798 2095.